"Say Fellows—" eBook

In the year of the Lord 1402, on the Vigil of the
Nativity of Christ, was invested Brother Gerard, son
of Tydeman, who was born in Wesep, a town in Holland:
he wrote divers works for the use of the monastery
and for sale. In the year of the Lord 1403, on
the day of St. Pontianus the Martyr, was invested
Conrad, a Convert; he was a tailor and was born in
the Countship of Marck.

In the year of the Lord 1405, on the Festival of the
Four Crowned Martyrs, Brother Alardus, a priest, and
John Benevolt of Groninghen were alike invested:
Alardus was forty-six years old and a Frisian by nation;
he had been Curate at Pilsum, which was his native
place, and was a good and devout man.

In the year of the Lord 1406, on the Feast of Corpus
Christi, which fell in that year on the day before
the Feast of St. Barnabas, two brothers that were
Clerks, and one that was a Convert, were invested.
These were Thomas Hemerken of the city of Kempen
in the diocese of Cologne, and own brother to John
of Kempen the first Prior. The father of these
was called John and their mother Gertrude. The
other Clerk was called Oetbert Wilde of Zwolle, whose
father’s name was Henry and his mother’s
Margaret. The Convert was Arnold Droem of Utrecht
who brought great wealth to the monastery and was
in charge of the Refectory.

CHAPTER XI.

Of the death of Brother Wolfard, Priest in the
Monastery of Mount St. Agnes.

In the year of the Lord 1401, on the Feast of the
Holy Martyrs John and Paul, Brother Wolfard, son of
Matthias, died in the monastery pertaining to our
order, which is called the House of the Blessed Virgin
in the Wood, and lieth near Northorn. He came
from Medenblic, a town in Holland, and was one of
the four first Brothers of our House. He was
a man of great stature and grave deportment, eloquent
in discourse, and his hoary head was comely to look
upon. He took part in the labours of the younger
Brothers, and would perform lowly tasks, such as washing
the trenchers, digging the ground, carrying stones,
or collecting wood. It was his wont to come
early into the choir, to be alert in watching, enduring
in fasting, careful in celebrating the Mass, and devout
in prayer. Once he was asked by a Religious
what he had eaten during Advent, and whether he had
had eggs from time to time; and he made answer:
“Blessed be God, throughout Advent I have seldom
taken eggs or fish, but I have eaten pulse only and
have kept the fast in great contentment.”

So when by the ordinance of God the end of his life
was at hand, and the time when his good deeds should
receive a better crown, he made a most edifying end
after the manner and order following: